BOOK COVER -- TITLE -- COPYRIGHT -- CONTENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER 1 NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES FROM 1945 -- REALISM AND METAFICTION -- THE ABSURDISTS -- SOCIAL REALISM -- SOUTHERN FICTION -- AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE -- NEW FICTIONAL MODES -- NORMAN MAILER -- JOYCE CAROL OATES -- THE INFLUENCE OF RAYMOND CARVER -- MULTICULTURAL WRITING -- CHAPTER 2 OTHER SIGNIFICANT NOVELISTS AND SHORT-STORY WRITERS OF THE POSTWAR ERA -- NELSON ALGREN -- ISAAC ASIMOV -- RUSSELL BANKS -- OCTAVIA E. BUTLER -- SANDRA CISNEROS -- RAYMOND CHANDLER -- ROBERT COOVER -- DON DELILLO -- PHILIP K. DICK -- E.L. DOCTOROW -- RICHARD FORD -- WILLIAM GADDIS -- WILLIAM GIBSON -- JOHN HAWKES -- OSCAR HIJUELOS -- JACK KEROUAC -- CHILDHOOD AND EARLY INFLUENCES -- LATER WORK -- STEPHEN KING -- MAXINE HONG KINGSTON -- BERNARD MALAMUD -- CORMAC MCCARTHY -- MARY MCCARTHY -- ANAÏS NIN -- TIM O'BRIEN -- CYNTHIA OZICK -- J.D. SALINGER -- MICKEY SPILLANE -- WALLACE STEGNER -- WILLIAM STYRON -- DAVID FOSTER WALLACE -- TOM WOLFE -- CHAPTER 3 POETRY AFTER WORLD WAR II -- FORMAL POETS -- EXPERIMENTATION AND BEAT POETRY -- DEEP IMAGE POETS -- NEW DIRECTIONS -- AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL APPROACHES -- CHAPTER 4 POSTWAR AMERICAN DRAMA -- MILLER, WILLIAMS, AND ALBEE -- ARTHUR MILLER -- TENNESSEE WILLIAMS -- EDWARD ALBEE -- THE OFF-BROADWAY ASCENDANCY -- NOTABLE DRAMATISTS OF THE AGE, IN DEPTH -- AMIRI BARAKA -- JACK GELBER -- JOHN GUARE -- TONY KUSHNER -- DAVID MAMET -- SUZAN-LORI PARKS -- NTOZAKE SHANGE -- SAM SHEPARD -- WENDY WASSERSTEIN -- AUGUST WILSON -- LANFORD WILSON -- CHAPTER 5 LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY FROM 1945 -- LITERARY BIOGRAPHY AND THE NEW JOURNALISM -- THEORY -- NOTEWORTHY POSTWAR CRITICS AND THEORISTS -- ALLAN BLOOM -- HAROLD BLOOM -- PAUL DE MAN -- STANLEY FISH -- HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR. -- BELL HOOKS -- ALFRED KAZIN -- J. HILLIS MILLER -- KATE MILLETT -- EDWARD SAID.

ELAINE SHOWALTER -- LIONEL TRILLING -- GORE VIDAL -- CORNEL WEST -- EPILOGUE -- GLOSSARY -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX.